


princes and paws

by greywardenblue



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Based on The Cat Who Came In Off The Roof by Annie M.G. Schmidt, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25345420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Marcus Bishop helps a very strange man off a tree, and finds the same man on his roof in the evening.
Relationships: Marcus Bishop/Aaron Selway
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	princes and paws

**Author's Note:**

> Marcus and David both belong to chancellorxofxtrash.

Today has been another ordinary day. Marcus was on his way home from work when the loud barking tore him away from his thoughts. As he rounded the corner, he saw the offending dog barking enthusiastically at a nearby tree. There must have been something truly interesting stuck up there, because there was a group of schoolchildren already gathered around and looking upwards. One of the kids spotted him and must have identified his twenty-year-old self as a responsible adult, because she bounced over immediately.

"Sir, sir, can you help us, please? The dog has chased somebody up the tree and now we can't get him down."

Marcus sighed. He had assumed it must have been a cat stuck on a tree, but apparently it was another kid who likely couldn't get down on his own even without the dog. He wasn't very keen on being the one who save the day, but the girl's friends followed her and were now crowding around him, begging him to help. Was he supposed to say no?

He approached the tree and looked up - and was met by a curious sight. The boy clinging to the tree like his life depended on it seemed to be around his age, although it was difficult to tell because he was clearly wearing clothes several sizes too small for him, designed for children with their elephant pattern. The stranger was also wearing a single flip-flop, and Marcus couldn't help but wonder where the other one went.

"Are you all dumb? I told you I can get down on my own! Just get the dog away from here, from Christ's sake."

Marcus glanced down at the children, who had finally managed to calm the dog down to a low growl instead of the barking, and dragged him away from the offending tree.

"Well, if you don't need my help..." He was about to step away, but the stranger's hand shot out and grabbed him so suddenly that the boy nearly fell of the tree. Marcus steadied him without a thought.

"Maybe... Maybe I do need _some_ help."

Marcus sighed, and let the stranger lean on his shoulder as he climbed off the tree. The strange boy - man? - shook himself, then picked up the other half of his flip-flops from one puddle and his backpack from a branch. Then he straightened his back and nodded towards Marcus as elegantly as he could probably manage while wearing children's clothes and flip-flops. He walked off with his head high, not looking back at lowly commoners such as Marcus or the children.

\--

Marcus was woken up in the middle of the night, this time by noises coming from his roof. The meowing suggested cats, but whatever was climbing around on the roof sounded too big to be a cat. He picked up his wand off of the nightstand and walked to the window with a frown, only to be met by-- the stranger from the afternoon, sitting on the roof with two familiar stray cats from the neighborhood. When he saw Marcus he froze and arched his back, and Marcus almost expected him to hiss.

"What the hell are you doing on my roof?" he asked eloquently.

The stranger frowned. "I was being chased."

"Chased? By another dog?"

The stranger shook his head, and hesitated a little before answering. His eyes slid down to the wand in Marcus's hand, not raised to point, but still visible. "No. The sorcerer living by the river. We have some... unfinished business."

"Then go home. Lock your doors. Get the hell off other people's roof."

The stranger snorted. "It's adorable how easy you think this is. Clearly, I haven't considered going home yet." He shook his head and stood up, and Marcus almost scolded him for being so reckless. "Well, thank you for your _lack_ of hospitality," he said, then took a few steps and watched the edge off the roof, clearly intending to jump somewhere. Marcus sighed. He knocked on the window sill until the boy looked at him, then gestured for him to climb in.

He wasn't sure why he was doing it, either. Perhaps because he knew that one of his closest friends would have given him a week-long lecture if he let such a stranger go off into the night on his own. (Tomorrow, he would call Blanca and tell her that if she wanted to give charity, she was welcome to give it herself. But he could survive the rest of tonight. Unless the man was a murderer.)

The stranger didn't need to be told twice. He was inside the flat in a second, as graceful as a cat.

"What's your name?"

The stranger seemed like he needed to think about that.

"Nathaniel calls me Warrior," he said, and Marcus's eyebrows shot up. "Cindy calls me Prince. I prefer that one."

Marcus closed his eyes and massaged his temples. "I'm not going to call you Prince. Do you have a proper name?"

The stranger glared at him, clearly hurt. Then he shrugged and reluctantly said, "The staff calls me Master Aaron. That's all my names."

"Aaron it is." Marcus briefly wondered why such a young man with a staff would be wandering around in the night wearing clothes clearly not meant for him. He eyed Aaron skeptically, trying to decide if they had met before at some kind of function before he moved away to get a break from his parents. "My name is Marcus. You can sleep on the couch. But if you take anything, know that I _do_ have the connections to find you and take it back."

The threat didn't seem to affect Aaron much. He nodded in response and set off towards the couch, and when Marcus looked at him a moment later he found him curled up into a ball, in a way that could not possibly have been comfortable for a human.

\--

When Marcus woke up in the morning he vaguely remembered letting in a stranger through the window, but he figured it must have been a dream. He stretched, got dressed and left his room, only to be met with a curious sight that would become his new normal. Aaron was lying on the ground under the window in a spot of sun, stretching like he was living his best life.

Marcus could have sworn he heard purring.

\--

Marcus had never considered himself sentimental. He told himself that he only let Aaron in to avoid Blanca's inevitable guilt-trip, and really, how was he supposed to know that she would be out of town for the weekend and couldn't take in the homeless prince herself? No, he couldn't have let Aaron stay because he was moved by the story of his four siblings, two of whom were taken far away and one who died in a car accident. It was only him and his sister now, the sister who was called Miss Amethyst by the staff, Witch of the West by Nathaniel, and Princess by Cindy.

A more likely explanation was that while he was never a people person, bickering with the human-sized cat brought some entertainment to his life. Aaron spent most of the day sleeping on the couch or on the rug in a spot of sun, but sometimes he lay down in the same room and watched Marcus silently, with the occasional comment. After a while he even lay on Marcus's bed while he was doing something else in the room, sometimes right on the top of Marcus's clothes. It was truly like getting a cat, if a cat was able to criticize your every move.

It took Marcus some time to come to terms with feeling affection for the strange man, who was still a complete mystery. Once while they were both sitting on the couch and watching tv, Aaron fell asleep slowly, his head falling on Marcus's shoulder, and he purred audibly. Sometimes Aaron went for a walk and came home around the same time Marcus did, and as he was fiddling with the keys, Aaron watched them jingle without blinking like he was about to pounce. Every time they passed a dog, Aaron walked around Marcus to get away from the animal (who was usually growling by that point - dogs never seemed to like Aaron).

Aaron tried to hide how little he knew about everyday human things, like a mobile phone for example, but while he could fool somebody they ran into at the store it was impossible to fool Marcus who lived in the same apartment as him. Every time Marcus caught him purring or playing with a ring of keys, Aaron scoffed and refused to talk to him for hours. He was trying to fit into a world where he didn't belong, and he was trying to do it without anyone noticing anything. Marcus thought he pride seemed important to him. That was certainly something he'd seen in humans before.

Every time Marcus suggested that maybe Aaron hasn't always been human, he denied everything, left the room, and didn't even look at him for the rest of the day. He also didn't talk about his unfinished business with the riverside sorcerer.

\--

\--

On some level, Aaron knew that he was dependent on Marcus - and worse, Marcus _knew_ Aaron was dependent on him - and yet he refused to give up his freedom to avoid inconveniencing the man. At any given moment, even in the middle of a conversation, he said goodbye, put on his borrowed shoes and left to wander the city aimlessly. Stray cats followed him, sometimes four or five at the time. Most of them were cats he knew, although there were more and more that were just following him to gawk, like some kind of curiosity.

His sister never came. The neighboring cat, Whiskers told him that since he disappeared, Cindy was refusing to let Amethyst out of the house. Whiskers was his most frequent companion, and the only one with news about what was going on at home. Whiskers was with him on the day he noticed another old acquaintance sitting on a bench and stopped in his track. The bench around the young man as well as his own lap was covered in sheets of paper, and he was busy reading seemingly three at once. This was how he always sat, and he only gently scolded when Aaron sat down next to him on top of his notes. Aaron could sit there for hours, just listening to him talk and explain his thoughts about the human world. He was never discouraged by Aaron's lack of response.

Aaron was tempted to go there and sit down, just like he always did, but he couldn't because he _wasn't_ like he always was. He was just about to turn and leave when the young man looked up at him and their eyes met. It was only a few seconds before Aaron turned away and tried to leave, only to be stopped by a friendly greeting.

"Good afternoon, Prince."

Aaron turned around in shock, wondering how he could have possibly figured it out. The young man laughed at his surprise.

"That's your favorite, isn't it? It was always the only one you listened to. Of course, maybe it wasn't the name but the young girl. Or maybe not. You always seemed to treat all the humans around you as your servants, didn't you? I suppose that is common with cats. They were gods in Egypt and never forgot that, after all."

"How did you know?" Aaron interrupted.

The young man smiled, and picked up some of his notes to clear a space next to him on the bench. "This is how it's been for years, isn't it? I sit on a bench, then the esteemed prince appears, lies down next to me, and expects me to entertain him. The setting is the same, so are the players... Neither did the color of your eyes, only their shape. Neither did your regal aura, like you are looking down at the rest of us from above. Oh, but why am I talking so much? You already know everything about me. Perhaps it is time I learned some more about you. What do you think?"

Aaron stared a little longer, then crossed his arms. "I use Aaron now," he said. The young man nodded, filing away the information. "And I still don't know your name."

The young man's face brightened, like he was happy to be asked. "My name is David. It's so very nice to meet you, Aaron. Now, will you tell me what is going on?"

Aaron sat down hesitantly, and took a few moments to gather his thoughts. In the end, even he was surprised by how easy it was to begin talking.

\--

\--

Marcus could have used his connections to find out every detail of the man's past, of course. He had those connections. He could have done it - if he wanted to lose Aaron's trust and the only sure company he had at home.

"It was some kind of experiment," Aaron said one day, poking his breakfast with his fork.

"What was?" Marcus asked.

"I think it was, at least. Strange colored potions in little bowls in front of his house, attracting the local strays... Amethyst and I were curious, and Whiskers had drank from the potions before. We didn't think anything was wrong." He shook his head. "I drank more than Amethyst, while Whiskers watched for the sorceress. We had a sort of hierarchy, partly based on the status of our... benefactors." Marcus smiled. He really didn't expect Aaron to say owner, but it was still funny. "I didn't feel anything at first. Then a few hours later, everything started burning inside me. Like I suddenly didn't fit inside my own body. My hair and whiskers started falling out..." Aaron gave up on the rest of his breakfast and pushed it away. "I think I passed out. When I woke up I was like... this. Only with less clothes. No clothes, in fact." Marcus tried not to react to that. "I stole some of Nathaniel's clothes that were far too small for me, and I left. Why would I have stayed? Why would they have let me?"

Marcus stepped closer and put a hand on Aaron's shoulder, but he was still surprised when the man leant into his touch and rubbed his head against Marcus's side.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I thought I owed you an explanation." Aaron sounded reluctant, and Marcus thought he must not have liked owing anyone anything. That fit in with what he learned about the man so far. They were both silent for a moment, then Aaron looked up to meet his eyes. "This is the part where you ask, why now?"

Marcus felt like he wasn't going to like the answer. "Why now?"

Aaron was silent for a moment, then gently pushed away Marcus's hand, sighed, and got up from the chair. "I'm leaving tomorrow. An old... friend of mine figured out a way to reverse the process and said he would get everything ready by tomorrow. My sister said Nathaniel's mother wants to get him a new cat, but he doesn't want one. They're waiting for me to come back."

Marcus didn't respond at first. He heard Aaron mention Nathaniel and Cindy before, and he was sure the man was attached to them, but it never sounded like he actually loved them. "Do you really want to go back?"

Aaron glared at him with so much force that Marcus raised his hands in defense. He frowned, angry with both himself and Aaron, but there was nothing else to say if he had made up his mind.

After a moment, Aaron's face softened. "You have my thanks for letting me stay here."

Marcus watched him for a moment. "You have my thanks, too," he said shortly, then turned around and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him.

Aaron didn't follow to ask what he was thanking him for.

\--

When Marcus woke up the next day, the clothes Aaron had been wearing were folded neatly on the couch along with everything else he had borrowed while he was living with Marcus. Of course he didn't realize he should have been putting them in the laundry, but why would he know how to do laundry? Marcus sighed and collected the clothes to deal with them himself. At first it seemed like Aaron hadn't taken anything except the backpack and Nathaniel's clothes that he had arrived in, but later Marcus noticed that his favorite jacket that he frequently wore was also missing. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. It wasn't an expensive jacket, so it wasn't likely that Aaron took it for the value.

In the afternoon, he walked through a city and passed a bench with a young man, who was enthusiastically explaining something to a cat. The man caught him watching and looked up, and so did the cat, so its eyes met Marcus's. He walked a little faster, and he didn't stop, not even when he thought he heard the young man call out after him.

\--

That night, he woke to noises on his roof. He grabbed his wand again and looked out to... see a hunched figure on the roof, who froze when his eyes met Marcus's. For a while, the two of them watched each other in silence.

"I thought you reversed the spell."

Aaron shook his head.

"Was there something wrong with the potion?"

Marcus thought Aaron was going to shake his head again, but in the middle of the gesture he changed his mind and turned it into a nod. "Yes. It was rather badly done. I told David he should check his sources better."

Marcus stepped away from the window without a word, and in a second Aaron was already climbing inside.

"I saw a cat this afternoon," he said. "On a bench, with a young man..."

"That was my sister," Aaron said. "Amethyst. With David. She thought if she sat with him, I would find them eventually."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

Marcus crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for a longer explanation. Aaron was avoiding his eyes.

"David says today was the last day. We ran out of time, so now I will be like this forever."

"Can you still understand cats?" Marcus asked.

Aaron nodded. "Yes. I don't know if that's going to change. David said it might fade over time, but there is really no way to know." He met Marcus's eyes. "You could say I'm human now."

Marcus nodded. "That, you are."

"I'm glad you agree." Aaron walked past him and finally stopped at the bedroom door, leaning against the frame. "Humans sleep in beds, you know. Like the staff, and Nathaniel and Cindy, and their parents. And you."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Humans can sleep on couches, too. Like scorned husbands thrown out their wives, for example."

Aaron smirked. "So if you throw me out, that makes you my wife?"

Marcus blinked in shock, then grabbed Aaron's wrist and pulled him into the bedroom.


End file.
